Present Day Cyber Attacks Increasingly Malicious than Love Bug

Ten years after Love Bug virus assaulted millions of computer systems globally and projected the negative image of Philippines in the world's IT map, experts have observed that today's attacks are much more malicious compared to previous security threats, as per the news published by NETWORKWORLD on April 30, 2010.

The Love Bug virus was first detected and highlighted by the security software firm Symantec. The virus was specifically crafted to overwrite the data and destroy it. It was distributed to users as a message attachment which would forward itself to the e-mail receiver and propagate from there once clicked.

This Love Bug virus was the first Visual Basic script worm, which, within a time span of just one week, infected over 50 Million machines. The outcome of this attack was the estimated damage worth $5 Billion to $8 Billion. The worm also brought the networks down by maxing out their capability to quickly send e-mails and resulting in meticulous disinfection of the attacked systems.

According to Paul Wood, senior analyst at MessageLabs Intelligence, Love Bug worm operated following another virus Melissa, which was also an equally destructive worm in 2009, as per the news published by MarketWatch on April 27, 2010.

Experts, in a statement, said that on May 4, 2000, one in every 28 e-mails had Love Bug virus. Looking at the 2010 figures, one in 287.2 e-mails has virus on April 9, 2010, highest for April. In its security report for April 2010, Symantec said that it has spotted 36,208 distinctive malware strains made to execute targeted attacks.

As per the Symantec report, in the US, 90% of e-mails that users receive are spam, surely not a favorable factor for someone looking for doing business through e-mails and seeking recognition among spam. Every day, around 1.5 Million malicious e-mails are detected by MessageLabs Intelligence.

While comparing present day attacks with Love Bug, experts said that even though mass mailing worms like Love Bug are not much prevalent today, cyber felons have developed their techniques to the highly targeted, much more malicious cyber attacks. For them, what matters more is identity theft and material gains rather then credibility and achievement.

Related article: Personal Security Fears Weigh On Aussies, Kiwis

» SPAMfighter News - 5/12/2010